The State Fair of Texas is over; the Midway, closed. But the prizes keep on coming.

[Editor's note:Updated at 2:30 p.m. to include comments from Dallas City Council member Philip Kingston.]

The State Fair of Texas is over; the midway, closed. But the prizes keep on coming.

Step right up and win the keys to Fair Park!

The city of Dallas has formally let it be known that it's looking for someone to take Fair Park off its hands. And according to City Manager A.C. Gonzalez, finding a new manager will be a two-step process — as opposed to the mayor's plan, which would have turned over Fair Park to his hand-selected choice, former oilman Walt Humann.

Per a memo that Gonzalez sent to the Dallas City Council on Tuesday morning, the city will first issue what's known as a request for qualifications, which is exactly what it sounds like: Interested parties tell the city they want a shot at operating the 277 acres full of crumbling art deco buildings and explain why they are able to do the job.

Gonzalez's memo says the city will begin advertising that request by week's end. A time line attached to the memo says responses will be due Dec. 2, though, Gonzalez writes, "we anticipate vendors may request more time." Evaluations will continue through Dec. 19.

He said Tuesday that "procurement is in charge" of writing the request for qualifications, along with "several others" he did not name.

Council member Philip Kingston is skeptical. He said Tuesday that he believes the process is being set up to give Humann the best shot at getting the management deal.

"If prequalifying proposers isn't rigging the game, then what's the point of it?" he said.

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Gonzalez writes that city staff will also assemble a so-called request for proposals, in which City Hall says what it wants in — and expects from — an operator. That request is expected to be published Dec. 19. The city's procurement staff will vet the proposals, choose a top prospect and negotiate with the would-be winner — the way the city handles any other business deal.

Kingston said the proposal process should be the beginning and end of the search.

"If qualifications are soooooo important, they become part of the score," he said via email. "You don't prequalify."

Gonzalez's time line says that part of the process is expected to last through March, at least.

"We've been asked to see how we can move forward with a standard procurement process that could be expedited as much as possible without sacrificing our ability to get a quality product," Gonzalez said. "That's what I've been asked to do, and that's what we're setting out to go get done."

Gonzalez's decision comes almost two weeks after City Attorney Larry Casto told the council it can't simply hand over Fair Park's keys to a not-for-profit foundation to be managed by former Hunt Oil CEO Humann, who spent most of this year negotiating a management contract with the city. Humann had long hoped his Fair Park Texas Foundation would already be in charge of operating Fair Park.

Humann was Mayor Mike Rawlings' choice — after, the mayor has said, he could find no other takers interested in running Fair Park or repairing its aging buildings. Humann debuted his vision for the foundation 11 months ago, during a council briefing titled "The Future of Fair Park."

At the time, some on the council weren't sold on Humann's vision, which had less to do with physical changes at Fair Park and everything to do with management structure and fees. Humann told the council he would eventually need $35 million from City Hall each year and tens of millions in bond dollars to fix crumbling structures.

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Council member Mark Clayton said last November that he simply didn't understand the financial arrangement. If the city was going to pay tens of millions each year to a foundation run by Humann, who has never run a park, "why can't we hire a best-in-class CEO?"

Walt Humann, CEO of the Fair Park Texas Foundation, addressed the Dallas City Council during a briefing on the management contract on Aug. 26. (Rex C. Curry / Special Contributor)

But despite the initial grumbling, Humann plowed on with the foundation and spent months negotiating with the park board and city attorneys. Those discussions were often tense; five park board members even walked out of one meeting. But in early August, the board sent the deal to the council.

Weeks later, Humann again stepped to the horseshoe to make his foundation's case. There were many questions, some concerns, but overall little resistance — until Kingston began asking how a foundation whose board hadn't yet met had "provided significant financial and other benefits to the city," one of the few exemptions to the state's procurement law. Kingston and colleague Scott Griggs demanded the city put Fair Park up for bids.

Casto ultimately sided with the council members — but only when a second party, West Dallas and Oak Cliff developer Monte Anderson, asked for a 30-day timeout so he, too, could submit a proposal. In an Oct. 13 memo, Casto said that now that someone else was interested in managing Fair Park, the city was legally obligated to see if others also wanted a shot.

Council member Adam McGough, part of a three-member committee tasked by Rawlings with negotiating Humann's contract, said two weeks ago that he would like the council involved early and often in this competitive bidding process. Perhaps, he said, the council could help craft the request for proposals; or maybe, he offered, the council could review and debate the submissions in public, for transparency's sake.

Gonzalez has decided instead to follow standard procedure. The council, he said, will be asked for its input during the proposal-writing process and then be given periodic updates, but otherwise it will be removed from the process until the end.

The city manager is set to retire in January. Kingston said Tuesday that the process should be postponed until Gonzalez is out of office and the City Council has hired a new city manager, who Kingston said should reboot the process. Gonzalez's memo, however, contends time is of the essence.

"Finding the right management for Fair Park is critical," he wrote. "We will work as expeditiously as possible to meet the dates listed, but caution that we may experience unforeseen delays due to the size and complexity of the project."